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Be Smart.

Joe Hanson

We give you deep answers to simple questions about science and the rest of the universe. And also dad jokes. Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, PhD. He's a molecular biologist and an award-winning science communicator and journalist

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Today · 7 min
CHAOS: Why It's So Hard To Foresee the Weather
Why is the weatherperson wrong? Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ What is El Niño? Why can’t we predict the weather? Just a few slight changes in global climate patterns can drastically shift the weather. Thanks to chaos theory, even our smartest meteorologists can’t predict weather correctly. Cool demonstration of the Butterfly Effect: http://www.exploratorium.edu/complexity/java/lorenz.html 2:20 El Niño graph by Jan Null: http://ggweather.com/enso/oni.htm Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @DrJoeHanson Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc. Kate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: “Ouroboros” by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 6 min
Who Has Your Birthday?
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. Support your local station at: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ In case you have a strange new desire to get an IOTBS shirt: http://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart#_=_ See if you share a famous birthday (I got Tom Hiddleston): http://www.buzzfeed.com/kimberleydadds/which-celebrity-shares-your-birthday#.mnPknbWyK Explore the math behind Birthday Paradox #1: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/probability/probability-and-combinatorics-topic/probability_combinatorics/v/birthday-probability-problem Explore Birthday Paradox #2: http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_development/mathematics/probability/birthday_problem.htm#My_Birthday_Paradox The “Facebook Birthday Problem” is a variant of the Coupon Collector’s Problem: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupon_collector%27s_problem Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: @okaytobesmart @drjoehanson http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: @okaytobesmart @drjoehanson ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc. Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Camera John Knudsen - Gaffer Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 9 min
What is Farthest Away?
You can learn more at https://curiositystream.com/smart SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Uploaded 06-11-18 The edge of everything used to be the edge of the map. But now, thanks to what we know about astrophysics and the universe, the edge of everything might not even exist… REFERENCES: http://www.pnas.org/content/15/3/168 https://arxiv.org/abs/1101.5476 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_world_maps https://cosmology.carnegiescience.edu/timeline ----------- FOLLOW US: Twitter: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart SEND US STUFF: It’s Okay To Be Smart PO Box 303356 Austin, TX 78703 USA BOOKS WE’VE FEATURED: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Mara Johnson-Groh Creative Director: David Schulte Editor/animator: Derek Borsheim Producers: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 6 min
How Many Odors Can You Smell?
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate How do we smell? Great! Thanks for asking! Subscribe to It's Okay To Be Smart: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/DrJoeHanson Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/DrJoeHanson We walk through life led by our noses. Literally. Because they're on the front of our faces. The sense of smell might be one of the oldest, but how does the science of smell work? How sensitive are our noses? Why are smell-related memories so vivid? How many different smells could we possibly smell? Find out in this week's It's Okay To Be Smart! Check out this amazing essay on smell from Lewis Thomas (1980), it's a beautiful piece of science writing: http://cplab.net/heap/on-smell/ Evolution of human olfactory receptor genes: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC218742/ Pseudogenes in olfactory system: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12644552 The nose as an emotional time machine: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/science/05angier.html?_r=2& Smell memories are often the most vivid: http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/why-is-food-so-potent-in-evoking-the-memories-of-childhood/ Sperm olfactory receptors: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16413109 How many smells can we smell? https://neuroecology.wordpress.com/2014/11/04/how-many-smells-can-a-smelly-person-smell-1-trillion-or-10/ http://www.sciencemag.org/content/343/6177/1370 You and Your Senses, starring Jiminy Cricket: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxcy6uMVH74 Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced for PBS Digital Studios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen Inc Kate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics Katie Graham - Director of Photography John Knudsen - Gaffer Dalton Allen - Post-Production Intern Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 15 min
How Some Words Get Forgetted
It’s the Great American Read! Vote for America's favorite novel: https://to.pbs.org/2Jes2X5 ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Uploaded 14-08-18 English is a confusing language for many reasons. But the irregular verbs might be the most confusing part. Why is “told” the past tense of “tell” but “smold” isn’t the past tense of “smell”? It turns out that the study of irregular verbs can teach us a lot about how languages evolve. This week, we look at how the era of Big Data is unlocking secrets behind the weirdness of words. OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT: “The Zipf Mystery” - Vsauce https://youtu.be/fCn8zs912OE “Trending Artists of the 17th Century” - The Art Assignment https://youtu.be/7eq3D9Q9lUA REFERENCES: Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture - Erez Aiden and Jean-Baptiste Michel https://amzn.to/2MLBEHF Words and Rules - Steven Pinker https://amzn.to/2vKL1kf Lieberman, Erez, et al. "Quantifying the evolutionary dynamics of language." Nature 449.7163 (2007): 713. Michel, Jean-Baptiste, et al. "Quantitative analysis of culture using millions of digitized books." Science (2010): 1199644. Hanley, M. L., Joos, M., and Fein, T. (1937). Word index to James Joyce's Ulysses. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. ----------- FOLLOW US: Twitter: @DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart ----------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Writer: Joe Hanson Creative Director/Director: David Schulte Editor/animator: Derek Borsheim Producers: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 6 min
Why Are The Bees Perishing?
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate If bees go, will they take us with them? Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @jtotheizzoe @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Bees, wild and domesticated, are in big trouble. Bee colonies are dying off at alarming rates, and the cause isn't clear. Pesticides, habitat loss, disease… there's a laundry list of likely culprits. We rely on these tiny pollinators for a majority of our fruits, veggies, and nuts… if they disappear, could we be next? LINKS/SOURCES: Bee declines driven by combined stress from parasites, pesticides, and lack of flowers (Science, 2015) http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6229/1255957.abstract What's killing America's bees? http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0050168 Anand Varma's TED talk on saving bees: http://www.ted.com/talks/anand_varma_a_thrilling_look_at_the_first_21_days_of_a_bee_s_life?language=en#t-63891 The White House's 2015 Pollinator Action Plan: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/environment/sustainability/bee-declines-combined-stress-parasites-pesticides-lack-of-flowers Colony collapse disorder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder Report of the commissioner of agriculture (1868): https://archive.org/details/reportofcommis00unit Summary of colony collapse disorder: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/environment/sustainability/bee-declines-combined-stress-parasites-pesticides-lack-of-flowers Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Google+ https://plus.google.com/+itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Director of Photography John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- Last week's video: The Energy Series! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsmqeqKj7M-q499mOUvNa3iRreFBzxaQx More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 11 min
Is Ultron Unstoppable? Featuring Vsauce3!
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Follow me to Vsauce3!! http://bit.ly/1zUxn7a Twitter: @okaytobesmart @jtotheizzoe Instagram: @jtotheizzoe ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Will artificial intelligence ever surpass human intelligence? And if that happens, will AI be good or bad? Is evil AI like we see in Avengers: Age of Ultron… inevitable? READ THIS FOR MORE: Wait But Why: The Road To Superintelligence Part 1: http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html Part 2: http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-2.html The smiley face thought experiment is my take on the famous "paperclip maximizer", read more about it here: http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer Special thanks to Jake from Vsauce3! Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Google+ https://plus.google.com/+itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Dan Silver - Production Assistant Dalton Allen - Post-Production Intern Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- Last week's video: Superbugs: The Empire Strikes Bacteria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyRyZ1zKtyA More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 7 min
Exoplanets: Are There Other Earths?
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Uploaded 02-12-13 Is Earth the only living needle in this haystack of planets? Don’t miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Are there exoplanets like Earth? We live in one of a hundred billion of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars. And now, thanks to modern astronomy, we know that the Milky Way is home to perhaps a hundred billion planets! In the past two decades, these exoplanet discoveries have spawned new questions about our universe, and if there might be another Earth, or other life, somewhere out there. In part 1 of our two-part series on exoplanets, we'll look at how astronomers find exoplanets, and what it means to call them Earth-like. We'll trace the history of planetary science back three thousand years and examine Earth's changing status in the cosmos. We were once the center of the universe, and now Earth is just another rock in the sky. What does that mean for us? Check out "Five Billion Years of Solitude" by Lee Billings: http://amzn.to/18Tzv59 This week's t-shirt comes from Wowch: http://www.wowch.com/puppyplanet More reading: There are five billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/cosmic-census-finds-billions-of-planets-that-could-be-like-earth.html?_r=0 The exoplanet catalog: http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habitable-exoplanets-catalog Methods of detecting exoplanets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_detecting_extrasolar_planets Interactive catalog of Kepler's exoplanet discoveries: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/science/space/keplers-tally-of-planets.html?ref=space A philosophical and historical look at the exoplanet revolution: http://www.aeonmagazine.com/nature-and-cosmos/the-real-meaning-of-the-exoplanet-revolution/ The Kepler telescope and the "adjacent possible": http://nautil.us/blog/clever-apes-a-busted-telescope--the-adjacent-possible How the Kepler telescope scanned the sky: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/post/62343351213/kepler-exoplanet-tally An ode to the late Kepler telescope: http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/an-ode-to-kepler-the-planet-hunter/278738/ Joe Hanson - Host and writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer Katie Graham - Director of Photography Andrew Matthews - Editor and Motion Graphics Kate Eads - Production Manager Filmed at Onion Creek Productions in Austin, TX Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios ----------- Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 6 min
The Surprising Places We Squander Power
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Check out our whole series on ENERGY! http://bit.ly/1BnH5zu Subscribe: http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Twitter: @okaytobesmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ We use a LOT of energy, but we waste a lot too. Where that waste happens might surprise, you though. We don't just waste energy when we leave the lights on or the thermostat cranked down too low. It happens at the dinner table and the water faucet as too! LEARN MORE: Special thanks to Sheril Kirshenbaum and the Webber Energy Group at the University of Texas at Austin for their help with this series. http://www.webberenergygroup.com/ Check out their awesome online course "Energy 101" to learn about energy and energy policy from A to Z! http://www.energy101.com/ And to find out what people think about energy, check out the UT Energy Poll: http://www.utenergypoll.com/ Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe ----------------- It's Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.DFollow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Google+ https://plus.google.com/+itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Joe Hanson - Creator/Host/Writer Joe Nicolosi - Director Amanda Fox - Producer, Spotzen IncKate Eads - Associate Producer Andrew Matthews - Editing/Motion Graphics/Animation Katie Graham - Director of Photography John Knudsen - Gaffer Theme music: "Ouroboros" by Kevin MacLeod Other music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks ----------------- Last week's video: Does the Moon Orbit the Earth? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cJ3AemeUFM More videos: Why Does February Have 28 Days? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKaHTh-_Gs Why Vaccines Work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aNhzLUL2ys Why Are Some People Left-Handed? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPvMUpcxPSA Where Does the Smell of Rain Come From? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGcE5x8s0B8 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 12 min
Is This A NEW SPECIES?!
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Uploaded 17-01-17 Order my Maker Box from Quarterly ►► http://on.qrtr.ly/ItsOKtoMake Don’t miss the next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓ More info and sources below ↓ This is the first-ever video of what we’re calling the "hermit crab caterpillar"! We’re pretty sure this strange caterpillar is a NEW SPECIES. We went to the Peruvian Amazon to see amazing things, but we never expected this :) But that makes me wonder: What *is* a species anyway? And how do you know if you’ve found a new species? These people helped make this episode happen: Aaron Pomerantz https://www.instagram.com/nextgenscientist/ Daniel Couceiro: https://www.instagram.com/danicouceiro21/ Ryan St. Laurent - Florida Museum of Natural History Dr. Andy Warren - Florida Museum of Natural History Dr. Daniel Janzen - University of Pennsylvania Special thanks to our hosts Rainforest Expeditions: http://www.perunature.com/ LEARN MORE: Mayden, R. L. (1997). A hierarchy of species concepts: the denouement in the saga of the species problem. In M. F. Claridge, H. A. Dawah and M. R. Wilson (eds.), Species: The units of diversity,. Chapman and Hall. pp. 381–423. Sutton, G., and Dickson, G. (1965). Interbreeding of the Eastern and Western Meadowlarks in Central Oklahoma. The Southwestern Naturalist, 10(4), 307-310. doi:10.2307/3669307 FOLLOW US: It’s Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Editor/animator/producer: Andrew Matthews Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter: @okaytobesmart @DrJoeHanson Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson Snapchat: YoDrJoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today · 23 min
How Your Brain Makes Its Own Electricity
We’re on PATREON! Join the community ►► https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Follow me to Animal IQ: https://youtu.be/yPrQ3Pl-iEM ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Uploaded 02-06-21 Here’s a thought: What IS a thought? I know it involves my brain, and my brain is made of neurons. And my brain’s neurons are listening to other neurons all over my body. But how do those neurons actually work? Maybe you’ve heard that it involves electricity, but does that mean you’ve got little zaps and lightning bolts running through your veins like Pikachu? Don’t worry, I’m here to set you straight on what a neuron is, what an action potential is, and how fast your nervous system really communicates. Neuron spiker box from Backyard Brains (they didn’t sponsor this video in any way, but their kits are very educational!) https://backyardbrains.com/ References: https://sites.google.com/view/galvani-nerve-brain/home SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ----------- Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: Andrew Campbell Brian Chang Roy Lasris Javier Soto dani bowman David Johnston Zenimal Salih Arslan Baerbel Winkler Robert Young Amy Sowada Benjamin Teinby Eric Meer Peter Ehrnstrom Dustin Marcus Tuepker Karen Haskell AlecZero Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 4 min
Why I ♥ PBS
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Here’s how you can get involved: 1. Tell us what you love about public media using #IlovePBS 2. Learn more about public media at http://pbs.org/value. 3. Find your representative at https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 7 min
Is Big Data Getting Out of Hand?
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Try Lynda.com: http://lynda.com/okay Best experienced in 240p or lower ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Check out Stanford’s “Raw Data” podcast: https://soundcloud.com/rawdatapodcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/r... Most numbers in the video are from this book: Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think - Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier http://amzn.to/1Vhc3Ei Sources: DNA Storage: http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i35/Sc... Square kilometer array (and other data scales): http://highscalability.com/blog/2012/... How much data does ___ store? http://techexpectations.org/2015/03/2... Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Email me: itsokaytobesmart AT gmail DOT com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart For more awesome science, check out: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigita... Music via APM Stock images from Shutterstock, stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 14 min
Why Are So Many People Allergic To Food?
You can learn more at https://curiositystream.com/smart Go check out Sound Field! http://bit.ly/2HH9sG1 SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Uploaded 20-03-19 More people have food allergies than ever before. Peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, eggs, and even milk… the list of possibly dangerous foods seems to get longer every day. But why do some people’s bodies have deadly reactions food? And why are food allergies on the rise? In this video we explain what food allergies really are, and what the difference is between food allergy and food intolerance. Some fellow YouTubers tell us their stories of what it’s like to live with food allergies, and we bring you the best current science on how to prevent food allergies in kids and adults. It’s a tough nut to crack. #FoodAllergy #Allergies #FoodScience Special thanks to WheezyWaiter and Emily Graslie for sharing their food allergy stories with us! https://www.youtube.com/user/wheezywaiter https://www.youtube.com/user/thebrainscoop Want to learn more about allergies? Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqrnShjM4II ----------- REFERENCES: Anagnostou, Katherine, and Andrew Clark. "Oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy." Annual review of medicine 67 (2016): 375-385. Sathe, S. K., Liu, C., and Zaffran, V. D. (2016). "Food allergy." Annual review of food science and technology, 7, 191-220. Tyagi, Nidhi, et al. "Comparisons of allergenic and metazoan parasite proteins: allergy the price of immunity." PLoS computational biology 11.10 (2015): e1004546. Willits, Erin K., et al. "Food Allergy: A Comprehensive Population-Based Cohort Study." Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Vol. 93. No. 10. Elsevier, 2018. Wong, L., Huang, C. H., and Lee, B. W. (2016). "Shellfish and house dust mite allergies: is the link tropomyosin?." Allergy, asthma and immunology research, 8(2), 101-106. ----------- FOLLOW US for more curiosity: Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Books from our episodes: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 13 min
Why You See Faces in Things
SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Uploaded 01-08-24 Have you ever looked at the front of a car and seen a face? Or an electrical outlet and seen a face? You definitely have. We all see faces everywhere we look thanks to a fun quirk of the human brain called facial pareidolia. Here's the neuroscience and psychology of how this weird brain phenomenon works! References: https://sites.google.com/view/facial-pareidolia-references/home 0:00 Intro 1:33 What is facial pareidolia? 2:26 How your brain "sees" stuff 4:10 What is a "face" anyway? 5:29 Are we born this way? 7:08 Why recognizing faces is important, according to evolution 9:09 Dog faces, and some closing thoughts 10:05 Support us on Patreon! ----------- High fives to all our Brain Trust Patrons: Ed Eyden Jennifer Burton Charles Horton, Jr Holly, Brett, and Ashe Bullion Jaap Westera Mehdi Damou Barbora Bei Burt Humburg dani bowman David Johnston Baerbel Winkler Eric Meer Karen Haskell Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 6 min
The Odds of Discovering Life and Romance
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ A cosmic love story, starring a guy named Carl Sagan Click here to SUBSCRIBE, it's FREE! -- http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub Love is a complicated combination of brain chemicals and behavior that scientists are only just beginning to figure out. And it's remarkable that in every society that we have looked at on Earth, romantic love exists. So if love is so universal, and there are 7 billion other people out there looking for it, why can it seem like it's so hard to find? In this episode, we'll look at what we can learn about the search for love from the search for extraterrestrial life. We'll start with Enrico Fermi's paradox of why we haven't been contacted by any extraterrestrials yet, and then at Frank Drake's equation to estimate the number of civilizations that might exist in our galaxy (updated with current numbers). Finally, we'll meet a young lady named Ann and see if we can calculate how many special someones there might be out there for her. It's a cosmic love story! References for this episode: http://dft.ba/-4bBW Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment below! Written and hosted by Joe Hanson Produced by Painted On Productions (http://www.paintedon.com/) Clips from this episode: Carl Sagan - All the -illions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZmafy... Music from this episode: Johnny Ripper's "Family." http://freemusicarchive.org/music/joh... ----------- Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 14 min
Why No One Can See the Stars Anymore
PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateOKAY ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Uploaded 14-07-19 SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a video! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub It never gets dark anymore. Not REALLY dark, anyway. Not like it used to. Light pollution is not only making it more difficult to see the night sky, but it's also affecting our health. For the past century and a half, since the dawn of electric light, we’ve been losing our connection to the night. We need artificial light for modern society, of course. The problem is, we need darkness for our health, and for the health of wildlife and ecosystems, and we’re not getting enough of it. I traveled to McDonald Observatory in far west Texas, one of the darkest places in North America, to learn what people are doing in order to preserve dark skies, and to see truly dark skies for myself (and so I could show them to you!). This video features time lapse night sky images that I’ve been collecting for the past few years, and I hope they make you feel something special. Turn out the lights, keep looking up, and don’t be afraid of the dark. #lightpollution #darkskies #astronomy SOURCES/MORE INFO: https://sites.google.com/view/light-pollution-sources/home ----------- FOLLOW US for more curiosity: Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Books from our episodes: http://smart-books.tumblr.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 11 min
Why Is Blue So Rare In Nature?
Duh, except for the sky… and the ocean… Don't miss our next video! SUBSCRIBE! ►► http://bit.ly/iotbs_sub ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Uploaded 09-01-18 Among living things, the color blue is oddly rare. Blue rocks, blue sky, blue water, sure. But blue animals? They are few and far between. And the ones that do make blue? They make it in some very strange and special ways compared to other colors. In this video, we'll look at some very cool butterflies to help us learn how living things make blue, and why this beautiful hue is so rare in nature. SPECIAL THANKS: Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of Natural History Bob Robbins, Ph.D. - Curator of Lepidoptera Juan Pablo Hurtado Padilla - Microscope Educator Richard Prum, Ph.D. - Yale University Vinothan Manoharan, Ph.D. - Harvard University SOURCES: Bagnara, J. T., Fernandez, P. J., and Fujii, R. (2007). On the blue coloration of vertebrates. Pigment Cell and Melanoma Research, 20(1), 14-26. Cuthill, I. C., Allen, W. L., Arbuckle, K., Caspers, B., Chaplin, G., Hauber, M. E., ... and Mappes, J. (2017). The biology of color. Science, 357(6350), eaan0221. Kinoshita, S., Yoshioka, S., and Miyazaki, J. (2008). Physics of structural colors. Reports on Progress in Physics, 71(7), 076401. Kinoshita, S. (2008). Structural colors in the realm of nature. World Scientific. Prum, R. O., Quinn, T., and Torres, R. H. (2006). Anatomically diverse butterfly scales all produce structural colours by coherent scattering. Journal of Experimental Biology, 209(4), 748-765. Vukusic, P., and Sambles, J. R. (2003). Photonic structures in biology. Nature, 424(6950), 852-855. Vukusic, P., Sambles, J. R., Lawrence, C. R., and Wootton, R. J. (1999). Quantified interference and diffraction in single Morpho butterfly scales. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 266(1427), 1403-1411. ----------- FOLLOW US: Merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter:@DrJoeHanson @okaytobesmart Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Instagram: @DrJoeHanson ----------- It's Okay To Be Smart is hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Director: Joe Nicolosi Writer: Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Producer/editor/animator: Jordan Husmann Producer: Stephanie Noone and Amanda Fox Produced by PBS Digital Studios Music via APM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 9 min
Is Your Brain Too Worn Out For Video Games?
Viewers like you help make PBS (Thank you 😃) . Support your local PBS Member Station here: https://to.pbs.org/PBSDSDonate Get your #ididascience shirt here! http://dftba.com/besmart ↓ More info and sources below ↓ Vintage arcade footage courtesy of: http://patrickscottpatterson.com/ Special thanks to Dreamhack Austin 2016: http://dreamhackaustin.com/ Thank you to our commentators: @Totalbiscuit https://www.youtube.com/cynicalbrit @EGiNcontroL https://www.facebook.com/GeoffRobinsoniNcontroL References: Thompson, Joseph J., Mark R. Blair, and Andrew J. Henrey. "Over the hill at 24: persistent age-related cognitive-motor decline in reaction times in an ecologically valid video game task begins in early adulthood." PloS one 9.4 (2014): e94215. Thompson, Joseph J., et al. "Video game telemetry as a critical tool in the study of complex skill learning." PloS one 8.9 (2013): e75129. Lewis, Joshua M., Patrick Trinh, and David Kirsh. "A corpus analysis of strategy video game play in starcraft: Brood war." Proceedings of the 33rd annual conference of the cognitive science society. 2011. ESA Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry 2016 http://essentialfacts.theesa.com/ ---- Have an idea for an episode or an amazing science question you want answered? Leave a comment or check us out at the links below! Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmart Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/okaytobesmart http://twitter.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Tumblr: http://www.itsokaytobesmart.com Follow on Instagram: http://instagram.com/jtotheizzoe Follow on Snapchat: YoDrJoe ----------------- It’s Okay To Be Smart is written and hosted by Joe Hanson, Ph.D. Follow me on Twitter: @jtotheizzoe Produced by PBS Digital Studios: http://www.youtube.com/user/pbsdigitalstudios Music via APM Stock images from SciencePhoto http://www.sciencephoto.com/ and Shutterstock http://www.shutterstock.com Stock footage from Videoblocks (unless otherwise noted) http://www.videoblocks.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yesterday · 14 min
Are Humans Still Evolving?
Follow me to @pbsorigins! https://www.youtube.com/c/pbsorigins We’re on PATREON! Join the community https://www.patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart ↓↓↓ More info and sources below ↓↓↓ Uploaded 19-05-22 We’re living longer. Dying less. Human life expectancy has doubled in just a couple centuries. Machines and meals and medicines keeping us alive long past the age where we can make babies. Does this mean our species is no longer under the influence of natural selection? Have humans stopped evolving? ----------- Special thanks to our Brain Trust Patrons: Ali Freiburger Mehdi Damou Barbora Bei Ken Board Clinger-Hamilton Family Attila Pix Burt Humburg DeliciousKashmiri Roy Lasris dani bowman David Johnston Salih Arslan Baerbel Winkler Robert Young Amy Sowada Eric Meer Dustin Karen Haskell Join us on Patreon! https://patreon.com/itsokaytobesmart Twitter http://www.twitter.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.twitter.com/okaytobesmart Instagram http://www.instagram.com/DrJoeHanson http://www.instagram.com/okaytobesmart Merch https://store.dftba.com/collections/its-okay-to-be-smart Facebook https://www.facebook.com/itsokaytobesmartpbs/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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